About this project

$25,078

pledged of $500 goal

1,166

backers

A note from Dern:

Thank you so much for your amazing support. This Kickstarter has been an amazing ride of thrills and gratitude. I'm pretty sure I burnt out my quota of exclamation points for the entire year. For more information about The Monster Alphabet, be sure to check out TheMonsterAlphabet.com

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The Monster Alphabet is a 26-page board book based off of legendary monsters and the alphabet. It's written by Darren J. Gendron, and illustrated by Obsidian Abnormal, the creative team behind http://www.HelloWithCheese.com

When I found out I was going to become a father, I wrote The Monster Alphabet. I wanted a book to read to my son that was filled with nerdy delight, and came up with an alphabet based off the monsters of legend.

Initially, I wasn't sure what to do with it. I asked my art partner, Obsidian, if he'd be interested in drawing it, but time was a serious issue for us (we create Hello With Cheese and he also creates Commissioned). So I asked our audience if it would be OK if we weren't funny for one day of the week. And Monster Mondays was born.

The monsters sweep across as many cultures as I could fit. It has some surprise selections, leading to some monsters that even most parents will not have heard of.

Each monster has a verse in iambic heptameter, a revival of a 17th century poetry technique. This is crucial for bedtime stories, as the gentle rhythm will help lull young-ones to sleep.

For the book, we're adding a couple things. First, a pronunciation guide. This will help you tell your little ones about the Xiuhcoatl or the Jörmungandr. Each monster will have its origin listed, and we add in some fun facts about the respective legends.

The most difficult thing about creating the Monster Alphabet was finding a publisher that can do really good board books. This 28-page book is a bit of a monster in itself, as it's rare to get a board book with this many pages. But we've lined up a quality printer and will have this on the printers on Jan. 30.

A note on the Book Tour Appearances - For most cities, we're only able to show up on the specific date listed. Backers do not need to pay for travel or lodging costs. If you own a bookstore or comic shop that is outside the listed city limits, please contact me before bidding. If you are buying a backer reward on behalf of a library, please first make sure the library will be able to host a reading, and please also understand that the 20 books must be donated to the library. The library may do whatever it wants with the books, including adding them to its collection or donating them to attendees of the reading and signing.

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The 500% bonus backer bonus has been reached! Now every backer pledge of $12 or more will include a free Hello With Cheese Postcard.

The $5,000 bonus backer bonus has been reached! Now every backer pledge of $12 or more will include a free custom Monster Alphabet bookmark.

The $7,500 bonus backer bonus has been reached!Now every book shipment will include a free 11x17 Monster Alphabet poster.

The $12,000 bonus backer bonus has been reached!Now backer will get a digital download of the audio book.

The $15,000 bonus backer bonus has been reached!Now backer will get a digital download of a video story time with Dern.

Our Most Like Final Bonus Backer Bonus of $23,453 has been reached! Every first edition of the book will get a slipcase added to it.

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Special thanks to Geek Dad and Laughing Squid for including us on their curated Kickstarter pages.

FAQ

I wanted to clarify this, as it seems to be one of the more common questions I get. I do not have a magic printer that was going to be able to get the project done for this amount. Instead, we were looking to take about a $4,000 loss to get 500 books printed, including all shipping fees. Instead, we'll be printing way more than 500 books, and we are able to not take a loss thanks to the awesome backers.

Kickstarter backer rewards are limited to just the Kickstarter page. We do have a preorder up now at Swag Shark for the book, but the discount is a little bit smaller. Please note: Pre-orders from Swag Shark will ship after the Kickstarter orders ship.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $28 or more
About $28

Flash cards and a book - Each flash card is currently designed at 4.25"x5.5" with rounded corners and a glossy finish. Note: the size of the card is subject to change based on the number of orders for the package. International backers, please add $5 shipping and handling.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $150 or more
About $150

Baltimore, MD - April 20, 2012 Book Tour Appearance: 20 copies, plus Dern for a 3-hour signing and reading at your store or library. If this is purchased as a gift for a library, the books must be donated to the library system.
(note: This date is flexible)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $150 or more
About $150

Washington, DC - June 8, 2012 Book Tour Appearance: 20 copies, plus Dern for a 3-hour signing and reading at your store or library. If this is purchased as a gift for a library, the books must be donated to the library system.
(note: This date is flexible)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $150 or more
About $150

Los Angeles, CA - June 26, 2012 Book Tour Appearance: 20 copies, plus Dern for a 3-hour signing and reading at your store or library. If this is purchased as a gift for a library, the books must be donated to the library system.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $150 or more
About $150

Los Angeles, CA - June 28, 2012 Book Tour Appearance: 20 copies, plus Dern for a 3-hour signing and reading at your store or library. If this is purchased as a gift for a library, the books must be donated to the library system.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $150 or more
About $150

Indianapolis, IN - Aug. 17, 2012 Book Tour Appearance: 20 copies, plus Dern for a 3-hour signing and reading at your store or library. If this is purchased as a gift for a library, the books must be donated to the library system.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $200 or more
About $200

London, UK - May 24, 2012 Book Tour Appearance: 20 copies, plus Dern for a 3-hour signing and reading at your store or library. If this is purchased as a gift for a library, the books must be donated to the library system.
(Note: This signing package includes Obsidian)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $200 or more
About $200

Atlanta, GA - Sept. 1, 2012 Book Tour Appearance: 20 copies, plus Dern for a 3-hour signing and reading at your store or library. If this is purchased as a gift for a library, the books must be donated to the library system.
(Note: This signing package includes Obsidian)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $250 or more
About $250

Toronto, Canada - May 11, 2012 Book Tour Appearance: 20 copies, plus Dern for a 3-hour signing and reading at your store or library. If this is purchased as a gift for a library, the books must be donated to the library system.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $250 or more
About $250

San Diego, CA - July 10, 2012 Book Tour Appearance: 20 copies, plus Dern for a 3-hour signing and reading at your store or library. If this is purchased as a gift for a library, the books must be donated to the library system.
(Note: This signing package includes Obsidian)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $500 or more
About $500

The Banner Year Level - To celebrate what our 2012 is shaping up to be, we'll need a tour banner. The Banner Year backer gets our banner (55 inches tall and 24 inches wide) when we're done with it in 2013. We'll keep track of each tour stop on the back of it, and O will add some drawings to it. And we'll throw in the last original piece of penciled art, the Raijū, and a nice package of 10 signed books.